Lawmakers ask Jindal to shelve Common Core tests

Eight lawmakers are asking Gov. Bobby Jindal to scrap plans to use tests associated with the Common Core education standards.

The lawmakers, all House members, sent a letter to the Republican governor Monday.

Jindal responded that the move could be a "viable option" if the Legislature doesn't vote to remove Louisiana from the controversial standardized tests, which are set to be used in third-grade through eighth-grade Louisiana classrooms next year.

Efforts to kill the testing failed in the House Education Committee. But Republican Rep. Brett Geymann and other lawmakers who signed the letter say Jindal can remove the state from the testing consortium himself.

Superintendent of Education John White has disagreed, saying shelving the state's use of the testing would require his approval and backing of the state education board chairman.